Using gcc versions

[Ray]

I have tried to install MPlayer and Xine on my 500 MHz AMD K6-2 system
running Mandrake Linux 8.1.  Both installs claim, during installation,
that gcc 2.96, which is installed by default in Mandrake Linux 8.1,
miscompiles.  Gabucino, author of MPlayer, says gcc 3.0.1 also
miscompiles.  I have installed gcc 3.0.3 according to instructions found
in the tarballs but every time I run ./configure in the MPlayer
directory it continues to recognize only gcc 2.96.  How do I get my
sytem to establish gcc 3.0.3 as the default?  Gabucino says gcc 2.95.3
is the best.  Do you know anything about miscompiling by gcc 3.0.3?